Today is Your Future
Most people exist in a dreamlike state. We’re fascinated, mesmerized, and stupefied by the delicate promises of the future. Little do we know just how delicate those promises are. Little do we know that they are false promises when fed by appealing to strengths we seldom exercise. For example, if a person thinks ‘Next year I’m going to break the power lifting record at my gym,’ that’s innocent enough. But if he really thinks this can happen without exercising the appropriate muscles today, he is dreaming. Dreaming I tell you! Today is the bridge to the future. Crossing that bridge starts with stepping onto it today.
Anyway, it’s unhealthy to labor under the impression that joy and fulfillment is weeks, months or even years away. Of course, setting goals is admirable, necessary and rewarding in itself. Worthy goals challenge us. They bring out the best in us. We grow and become better people when we set and achieve goals. We confirm our strengths in the process. So, isn’t it equally true that if there are qualities within us that we consider valuable, it might serve us well to actualize those virtues right here and now? Today? Not just on some perfect, sunny day in the far distant future? After all, there is no guarantee such days will ever come. Or that we will even be alive or able to take advantage of that perfect time when and if it ever does come. Who knows? You could get stabbed in the buttocks the night before and be lying on your stomach in the hospital when that ‘perfect’ day gets here. So, really, all the possibilities of the future we can arouse in our currently inactive minds becomes a deterrent for getting things done today. Sometimes the dreams for our future function as excuses for the shortcomings that beleaguer us right now.
The only guarantee you have is now. Today is your future. Get after it. Attack it like a fat southern girl getting after a sweet potato pie. I’m cautioning my reader that if we let one day after another slip into the future without being bold, that experience suggests that when the future gets here, we’ll treat it with the same indifference and inattention. Sadly, we all know people who live their lives this way and go to their graves without having ever really lived.
At one point, I was like many others. I was satisfied to let days pass as I sat around the house and watched tv, ate, farted, ate and farted some more. But after a doctor suggested that I get off my ass, I got up and got after life. Moments that are transient and seemingly insignificant next to the big picture, are my favorite times of the day now. And my days are long because I live for these moments as they reoccur throughout the day. To me they are hidden treasures and sources of renewable spiritual energy.
Earlier this week for example, I was out and about meeting and greeting people, opening doors for older persons and handing out what little money I could afford to those who needed it. Toward the end of the day, I went into a store, came out and was spotted by a favorite aunt who I had not seen in years. We happily embraced and got reacquainted. And although our meeting on the street was just an operation of chance, it totally made my day. I was grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the week. My point is that if I had not been open to the possibilities of the here and now, I would not have been a part of the scene that brought my sweet auntie back to me. Innocent, unexpected events like these go a long way toward making life precious for most mature people. Would you agree?
So, after a good day of seeking and finding such treasures, we find that a rewarding and rejuvenating sleep awaits us at night. And the stars will arrange themselves in a way that suggests the future is bright. Believe in the secret promises of the heart and mind and in those complimentary gems awaiting discovery by the perceptive powers of the virtuous and diligent. In conclusion, my advice to you is that you should enjoy a good day every day. Of course, it’s only natural that there will be ups and downs. But overall good fortune will reign if you determine that it should be so. Today!
(For more on this read an earlier post titled Inner Light)
If you need someone to talk to you can call the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787. If you feel like a danger to yourself, call 988.